


all of the lights shine for you

by labocat



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Ice Skating, M/M, public rinks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 17:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13686363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/labocat/pseuds/labocat
Summary: It should be boring, Yuuri thinks, simply skating, barely even stroking, with little to no room for footwork, but at the same time, he catches Victor’s eyes and reflects his smile back at him, knowing that anything they do together will be worth it in the end.





	all of the lights shine for you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EmiAliceinWonderland](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmiAliceinWonderland/gifts).



“The plaza certainly is pretty with all the lights up like this.” The cafe they had adjourned to, laden with bags, opens out onto the plaza, where they could watch the other shoppers continue to hurry about, trying to finish their shopping before the encroaching holiday.

“I’ve always loved it, especially when it snows. The lights through a soft snowfall set everything to glittering; it made the long nights bearable to see them like that.”

Yuuri gives a soft sigh and curls his hands tighter around his cup, letting the warmth from the mug seep through his fingers and trying to imagine it. Hasetsu was so much further south than Saint Petersburg; the days and nights were decently balanced, even in the summer and winter. Detroit hadn’t been so different, either, and even here in Moscow, there’s daylight for at least a third of the day. He tries to imagine growing up where most of the day was spent in twilight or darkness, the constant chill. The cold is nothing new, and he’s learned to adjust to the skewed light in his new home, but thinking of Victor, trying to think of him as anything but the brightest thing in a season of darkness was too much. What did you do when you had to be the light for others but had none of your own? 

“We should go see the light displays in Fukuoka when we go back - it was my favorite when I was little,” he offers softly, still watching the people, gazing out at the plaza so that the touch of Victor’s hand cupping his makes him startle before relaxing back into it. Yuuri’s breath catches in his throat as he turns back and sees the smile Victor is giving him, the warmth suffusing through him even further.

He has to look away, but makes no move to remove Victor’s hands from atop his or to even pull away. They sit, watching the shoppers and drinking in the warmth of the cafe when suddenly Victor hums softly.

“They still set up a rink every year,” he says, eyes focused on the rink on the other side of the plaza. Yuuri can't remember the last time he just skated, not for practice, not training, not to quell the unease in his stomach the way only tracing figures can. Round and around with no reason other than to be on the ice with friends or loved ones. He envies them, briefly.

“Yuuri. Let's go skating.”

“Ehh? But...our skates are still back in Saint Petersburg,” Yuuri says. It had been an odd relief to go on a trip that didn’t revolve around skating, a weekend trip to Moscow for something other than a competition, but seeing the way Victor’s eyes light up at the sight of the outdoor rink, he knows they’ll bring their skates on any future trips from now on.

Victor waves his words away. “They rent skates - we can survive skating in unfamiliar boots for one night, right?” He smiles and Yuuri knows there’s no way he could ever say no. It’s the smile Victor had given him that night on the ice in China and much like back then, he can’t be annoyed or angry, only heart-swellingly happy.

“Sure,” he answers, along with the same smile he’d answered with back then, and by the way Victor’s hand tightens over his, he knows he won’t regret it.

There’s a line that parts eerily quickly, but Yuuri supposes this is his life now. St. Petersburg might be where the Russian skaters train, where Victor lived alone and now they both live together, but Moscow is large and not far and word travels quickly when a national hero makes his comeback. The travel posts on Instagram likely hadn’t hurt the speed of word getting out. The bored rink attendant gives them the cursory once-over to determine how many people and it’s almost a little gratifying to watch his eyes widen as they flick between the two of them rapidly, jaw dropping a little as it all sinks in and he stammers out, “two, then?”

Yuuri can’t help but be a little impressed as the attendant even continues gathering his composure as Victor cheerfully returns, “yes, and two skate rentals, please.” Yuuri’s fairly sure that two adults plus two skate rentals shouldn’t cost as little as they’re charged, but no one there seems in a state to argue. The girl behind the skate rental counter seems equally nonplussed as they slide down to collect their skates. It’s been years since Yuuri had been fitted for a new pair of skates that weren’t custom, and these boots are different - bulkier and in a different sizing system from both Japan and the US, so he lets Victor give numbers for the both of them. 

His feet are more used to being in skating boots than normal shoes, he thinks, but these are softer, shaped and re-shaped by feet other than his and he has to laugh a little at the absurdity of it all, at the thought that his certainly won’t be the last in them, either. 

Victor is done lacing up before he is and slides to his knees without a word, reaching for Yuuri’s other boot before he can even say anything. There’s nothing he could say, and he even has the selfish thought to undo the one he’s already finishing, just so Victor can lace it tighter. The stares of the people around them do make him sit up straighter as Victor finishes, showing off the finished lacing job and extends a hand down to help Victor up, never taking their eyes off of each other. Performances are nothing new, and the Russian public have unknowingly demanded a lot of them.

Yuuri squeezes Victor’s hand as they head out onto the ice, wobbling only slightly as they both get used to the different give of the boots. Only a few of the crowd on the ice seem to have noticed what had happened along the side, with the majority too focused on their own attempts at staying upright or those that they came with. They wait for a small part in the flow before stepping out. The ice is rough and the blades of their skates are dull, causing either Yuuri or Victor to slide slightly when their edge doesn’t catch every now and then, but soon enough they are simply another couple in the current of skaters around them. They weave back and forth around the others, passing double takes and oblivious children and their proud parents, sinking almost seamlessly into a rhythm as they skate round and around and Yuuri feels the laugh bubble up from his chest before he’s conscious that he’s laughing. Victor tries turning around to lead Yuuri, but nearly trips over a small girl showing off a hockey stop before Yuuri tugs him back, laughing even harder. There’s more and more space around them as those on the ice who know or care who they are realize, but for the most part they are part of the flow.

It should be boring, Yuuri thinks, simply skating, barely even stroking, with little to no room for footwork, but at the same time, he catches Victor’s eyes and reflects his smile back at him, knowing that anything they do together will be worth it in the end.

Soon enough there’s a larger space in the center cleared for them - the children showing off in the center either dragging their parents off or being dragged off by their parents - and while Yuuri knows what’s expected of them, he equally knows there’s no chance of anything fancy in these skates. But there are phones out and a step sequence they’ve been practicing and Yuuri can see Victor catching the eye of the teenager who had been keeping an eye on the skaters and keeping anything from happening. He shrugs, and Yuuri feels a little bad for putting him in the position of having to do his job or say no to Victor Nikiforov - as if there were any way that anyone but Yuuri could. 

Then Victor’s turning back to Yuuri and grabbing his hands. “The new program?”

There’s only the soft, tinny music being piped over the outdoor speakers, but Yuuri hums a few bars of their music anyway, knowing they could both hear it in their sleep if they wanted. “No lifts, no jumps,” he stresses, even in the face of Victor’s pouting eyes, continuing, “but the side-by-side part could work.” 

It’s tight, not having the whole rink to work with or only having to dodge a few other skaters, but as before, everything else falls away as Yuuri skates, his hands in Victor’s. There’s a focus on his skates, pressing in harder than he would normally to accommodate, on Victor’s movements and matching his own rather than just revelling in the nearness. But they make their way around the small space, even throwing in the twizzle neither of them quite have together yet, and Yuuri laughs as his blunt blades turn his into something more like a spin, which throws off his backward spiral slightly. But Victor is there in a lunge in front of him and even for all the mistakes he’s sure Yuri will point out them when the video inevitably makes it onto Instagram, he’s never been happier with a performance. 

There’s too many people around for Yuuri to pull Victor to him like he wants, the way they do that makes Yuri yell at them to get a room, so he settles for pressing his forehead to Victor’s and simply smiling, happy in the moment. He’s more than achieved his childhood dream of getting to compete with Viktor Nikiforov, getting him to see Yuuri as an equal, and now he knows that even past their competition days, they will always have the ice and what they can create on it together.


End file.
